John Keiger John Keiger

Macron’s fight with Europe’s populists is backfiring

In France, discontent has been brewing for years. Emmanuel Macron managed to set it alight by embarking on a series of reforms that sparked the gilet jaunes movement. In Europe it has been brewing too, and now Macron seems to be repeating the trick. Here the antipathy is from populist governments opposed to his ideas, not only on a future Europe but also his lesson-giving in how those countries should govern themselves. International politics are following a similar pattern to national politics. Macron sweeps onto the international stage with new ideas for reforming Europe, he accompanies that with acerbic throw-away quips on the competence and morality of particular leaders, they riposte and, gradually, individual protests coalesce into an axis of angry opposition to the French president.

This week, the Italian ambassador in Paris was summoned to the French foreign ministry for a dressing down over comments made by Italy’s deputy PM. Luigi di Maio had blamed France for Europe’s migration problems, saying France had “never stopped colonising tens of African states”, resulting in Africa’s impoverishment. As a result, he called for the EU to apply sanctions against France. Di Maio isn’t the only Italian politician stirring up trouble. On Wednesday, the country’s other deputy PM Matteo Salvini expressed support for the gilets jaunes on Facebook, saying that he hoped the French people would soon be rid of a ‘bad president’.

Macron is not taking the criticism lightly. Just as Macron was signing a new Franco-German friendship treaty with Angela Merkel, a French presidential source released a statement declaring that at the European elections in May “the European project” would confront those “who seek to destroy it”; the statement also criticised the ‘ludicrous comments from the Italian government.’ The French minister for Europe Natalie Loiseau also stepped in earlier this month claiming that France refrained from ‘giving lessons to Italy’.

But this is precisely what Macron has been doing to Italy since its populist government came to power last June; just a few weeks later, he was busy describing Italy’s politics as ‘populist leprosy’.

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